A Garden Without Cats, It Will Be

Life In The Country Teaches One That The Really Stimulating Things Are The Quiet, Natural Things, And The Really Wearisome Things Are The Noisy, Unnatural Things. It Is More Exciting To Stand Still Than To Dance. Silence Is More Eloquent Than Speech. Water Is More Stimulating Than Wine. Fresh Air Is More Intoxicating Than Cigarette Smoke. Sunlight Is More Subtle Than Electric Light. The Scent Of Grass Is More Luxurious Than The Most Expensive Perfume. The Slow, Simple Observations Of The Peasant Are More Wise Than The Most Sparkling Epigrams Of The Latest Wit.

Last Summer I Was Staying At A House In Hampshire Which Was Famous For The Brilliance And The Originality Of Its Gardens. There Were Many Of Them, But The Most Beautiful Of All Was A Walled Garden In Which Every Flower Was Blue. There Were All The Obvious Things Like Delphiniums And Acronitums And Larkspurs, But The Most Beautiful Blue Of All Came From The Groups Of Cabbages - The Ordinary Blue Pickling Cabbage. Set Against The Blazing Blue Of The Other Flowers, It Had A Bloom And Elegance Which Made It A Thing Of The Greatest Delight.

Long Experience Has Taught Me That People Who Do Not Like Geraniums Have Something Morally Unsound About Them. Sooner Or Later You Will Find Them Out; You Will Discover That They Drink, Or Steal Books, Or Speak Sharply To Cats. Never Trust A Man Or A Woman Who Is Not Passionately Devoted To Geraniums.

I Had Never 'taken A Cutting' Before ... Do You Realize That The Whole Thing Is Miraculous? It Is Exactly As Though You Were To Cut Off Your Wife's Leg, Stick It In The Lawn, And Be Greeted On The Following Day By An Entirely New Woman, Sprung From The Leg, Advancing Across The Lawn To Meet You.

It Is Only To The Gardener That Time Is A Friend, Giving Each Year More Than He Steals.